


Paradise VII: Closer to Heaven

by FictionWriterD



Series: Paradise [7]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26529724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FictionWriterD/pseuds/FictionWriterD
Summary: If heaven was a real place, even with what would be seen as impossible, then Zack may have found it, and he is happily not alone / Zack Aerith fluff, with a lemon maybe in a later chapter
Relationships: Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough
Series: Paradise [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1561291
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

'Is that…the ocean?'

Zack slowly sat up, feeling like he was floating on clouds before he realized that he was lying on a fluffy feather bed. The smell of the salt water nearby was further complicated by the sound of the waves. "Strange…" He stretched his arms over his head and looked around.

That was where things got stranger.

The room he found himself in was huge, with three doors and only a circular wooden table for furniture besides the bed he was on right now. The walls and ceiling was white while the carpet was deep red.

Getting up off the bed Zack took a few steps towards the glass doors near the bed when a person walked through them. It was a woman wearing a light pink dress with black outline and slightly puffy sleeves and the skirt going to her ankles. She was a brunette with her hair in a tail that reached her waist, and it was tied with a pink ribbon. She had a handful of yellow flowers in her hands and placed them in an empty vase on the table, silver bracelets dangling from her wrists. When she finally noticed Zack all she did was smile at him.

He knew exactly who it was.

"Aerith?!"

She stood up straight, hands on her stomach, "Zack…"

Not knowing what was going on, Zack stood on shaky knees, and he would have fallen had Aerith not run up and wrapped her arms around him. She buried her face against his chest and held onto him tightly.

Getting over the shock quickly enough, Zack put his arms around Aerith, and right now he didn't care what happened, he was with her and that was all that mattered to him.

"Sorry it took me so long to get to you," he said with a rather shaky voice.

Aerith pulled back to look up at him, her emerald green eyes welling up with barely contained tears, "Better late than never."

"You ain't kidding there—" that's when he suddenly remembered. "Wait…aren't we, you know…" He stopped short of finishing what he wanted to say. Not just because he didn't want to ruin the happiness that Aerith had for him, but also because she pressed her fingers to his lips to silence him. She knew what he was going to say and refused to hear any of it.

"Let us have this moment."

Feeling the emotions well up inside himself, Zack couldn't say anything further. In fact words were not needed now. He brought his hands to gently cradle her face, the tears finally falling from her eyes as he kissed her.

Years of unchecked emotion had come back and washed over them like a tidal wave, and for many reasons it felt right to be with each other again, and no one would deny them of that wish.

The kiss lasted for no more than a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity, one they repeated over and over again until at last they needed air. All the while the tears kept flowing from Aerith, going down her cheeks and neck. Zack used his thumbs to gently wipe them away.

Sniffling was heard, and at first Zack thought it was from Aerith, but when he glanced up he saw a furry little moogle floating in the air, his little hands up to his little black eyes.

"Sorry…I didn't mean to intrude, kupo…*sniffle*"

Zack lowered his hands to rest of Aerith's upper arms. Aerith turned her body towards the moogle. She remained in a state of bliss and didn't seem upset with the moogle for ruining the moment. If anything she felt concern for the creature. "It's okay…what's wrong?"

"…my name is Mogina, I'm a servant at this resort, kupo…" through the sniffling she gave the moogle motioned to the cart behind her. It was silver and lined with dishes of varying sizes. "…I didn't want to bother you but breakfast is served, kupo."

Aerith turned back to Zack, her cheeks still wet from all the tears, and gave him a look that told him they'd finish where they left off later.

On his part Zack wasn't disappointed. Despite the circumstances he didn't let it get to him. In fact, looking at the cart made him slightly hungry. "Breakfast huh…"

Aerith smiled up at him, "We'll talk more after breakfast, okay?"

"Sounds like a date to me," he said optimistically.

Even after being gone for so long, Aerith appreciated his attitude.


	2. Chapter 2

Feeling really great after eating such a full breakfast, especially after being reunited with Aerith, Zack felt eager to go out onto the island. Aerith had let him go, saying she'd meet with him once she was ready.

Before he left he said he'd wait for her outside the building. The resort gave him a pair of swim shorts to wear (free of charge, thankfully) and after changing into them he went out to the beach. Thankfully he wore nothing but the shorts. The sun was scorching hot, much more than at Costa del Sol, and it didn't take long for Zack to try and find some shade. There was a tree line that led into a jungle that provided just what he needed.

Though he got out of the sun he quickly found out that the humidity of the jungle was even worse. He was already sweating buckets and he hadn't been in the jungle for five minutes!

"Can't I ever catch a break?" He thought as he went into the thick of the trees and other plant life.

The jungle was thick, with the canopy almost entirely covered by trees yet there were a few areas where the rays of the sun snuck through. Trees of varying shapes and sizes reached into the sky and none of them were recognizable to the former-SOLDIER.

Feeling bored just walking, Zack decided to climb a tree, climbing up a limb that was able to hold him while he chilled at least a dozen feet or so off the ground. Only a guy like Zack could relax in such a situation, though he was normally a hyperactive young man otherwise.

He couldn't see far from where he sat on the limb thanks to the thickness of the jungle, so he went back down and went along the paths marked by the moogles, and after taking a detour into a darker area he saw a familiar sight.

The area was dark but a single wide ray of sunshine came down on a wider patch of yellow and white flowers.

Walking up to the patch, Zack knelt down and was immediately hit with memories. Images of his time back in Midgar flooded his mind, seeing this sort of place in a church in Sector 5.

"How long has it been since that time…" he thought. He sat down and stared at the flowers, his thoughts wandered off and he failed to notice someone walk up to him.

"So this is where you went."

The sound of the feminine voice stirred Zack from his thoughts. He turned and looked to see who it was, and a single little ray of sunlight pierced the canopy.

Like a gift from heaven the shining light made Aerith more angelic in appearance, making her smile seem more precious than words could describe.

"Now there's an angel," he said, only half kidding.

Aerith giggled and shook her head, "Nope, just me."

Zack sighed and got on his feet. He turned to face his girlfriend, and stopped in his tracks. Aerith was wearing a two piece bikini that was colored light pink, held together by light knots on her hips and her back. She also wore a shear red jacket to help protect her skin from the sun, though now it just stuck to her from all the sweat. Her pink hair ribbon remained tied. Her skin was damp from the humidity of the jungle, but unlike Zack she didn't seem to be bothered by it. Nor was she bothered by how he was looking at her with mouth agape. Not that she could blame him, she never wore anything like this since she had lived in the slums her whole life and never had the pleasure of going to a beach before.

Zack closed his mouth, but still stared. Aerith looked more beautiful than ever now, and while his attraction to her was as real as it could get, he'd be lying if he said he didn't like her swimsuit showing her body.

Aerith caught his stare, "Mogina chose this for me. Said it brought out the color in my eyes a bit more, though I think she was being nice." Aerith raised her hands above her and stretched.

"You feel comfortable in that?" Zack asked, trying to be nice, as he had never seen Aerith in such an outfit before.

Aerith nodded, "It's certainly different, right?" She smiled before taking a few steps forward into the patch of flowers. "What are the odds of us finding a place like this in this jungle?"

Zack shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know, probably about as good as our chances of finding this place again after we leave."

She knelt down in the flowers, sitting down in the center of the patch. She beckoned to Zack, hoping he'd join her. He didn't need further convincing. Carefully he walked through the patch, avoiding stepping on any of the flowers, and sat down next to her.

Aerith caressed a yellow flower carefully, "Mogina told me about all the places to visit on the island. There's so much we can do, and only seven days to do anything."

Zack nodded the idea of exploring the island sounded good, though something told him it was too big to do in one day. "We'll have to plan our week carefully so we don't miss anything."

"Zack…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad we're having this time together," Aerith said, her voice sounding like it was beginning to crack. "Since we never had that much before."

Not wanting to see her cry Zack made a drastic measure. He moved himself around and laid his head on Aerith's lap. She was taken by surprise, but welcomed the action of affection.

Zack took a big breath, "Our time together was still great, regardless of how short it was."

Aerith nodded in agreement, and placed her hand on Zack's chest, her mind easing with the feeling of his heartbeat.


End file.
